What we present first changes the way people experience what we present to them next. This is an essential but poorly appreciated tenant of all communication.
A salesman had this problem with his clients would always push back on costs or expect a discount so large it was not worth him accepting the business. Justifying the price never worked as the client would start scrutinising ever cost. One day he stumbled on a solution, after he’d given the presentation and just before you reveal the price he would say:
“As you can tell, I’m not gonna be able to charge you a million quid for this”
Mentioning an admittedly unrealistic price tag for a job doesn’t always with the business (too many other factors are involved for that) but it almost always eliminates challenges to the charges.
It’s not only numbers which work like this: People estimated the length of a river as longer if they had drawn a set of long lines vs short lines, Wine shops sell more German wine if they play German music in the shop.
Jim was a top salesman who did one thing different to his colleagues: During his visit to someone’s house he would get them started on a test but then remember that he had left some important info in his car and ask: “Do you mind if I let myself out and in the front door”. The answer was always yes because the alternative was to interrupt the test.
In doing this he associated himself with a trusted person of the household because only trusted people are free to walk in and out the front door, and the other positive associations then become linked to him and his advice.
Note that Jim didn’t claim that he was the sort of person that people let have access to their homes, he just arranged to be treated in a way characteristic of trusted individuals.
Unfinished tasks tend to hang around in our minds better than finished ones: A waiter who can remember the orders for a whole table will forget those orders once the food has been served because he closes the task in his mind. And students were found to be more interested in potential dates if those dates were known to be evaluating their profile instead of having finished evaluating.
Cialdini describes a colleague who was consistent with her writing and when asked how she did it she said she never let herself finish the last bit of a chapter or paragraph so that the idea stayed in her mind until her next writing session, prompting her to get back in the chair and finish the task.
Older people tend to be happier despite having more health problems and fewer opportunities than young people. In a book about happiness Cialdini notes that out of a list of tips, the top 3 methods you can reliably increase personal happiness involve a pre-suasive refocusing of attention:
In order for these thing to work they must be practiced every day regardless of your outlook on life, doing them just once is not good enough.
Alan was a guy who smashed a bunch of tests and one day Cialdini met him, but he wasn’t what he expected. The guy wasn’t super smart and didn’t seem to be outstanding in any way. Cialdini asked him how he got such high scores on the tests. His trick was to spend time getting psyched up before the tests using the following activities:
Most people would spend the time shortly before the test to cram in all the things they were weak on, but Alan knew that focusing on things he didn’t understand would only elevate his anxieties. He believed that much of his success in tests was due to diminished fear and bolstered confidence. “You can’t think straight when you’re scared, plus you’re much more persistent when you’re confident in your abilities”.
An IWT plan is a type of self statement used in the same way as a todo list or an action plan, but they have been found to outperform regular lists and plans in several studies. The format is like this:
“If when after my lunch, the waiter asks if I want dessert, then I will order mint tea.” (An example for someone trying to lose weight)
They work by linking a productive action with a situation, our brains then go on high alert for the situation and when it arises we are ready prepared with what to do next.
In one study, epileptics who struggled to stick to their medication made the plan: “When it is 8am in the morning and I finish brushing my teeth then I will take my medication”. Those who took their medication rose from 55% - 79%.
Another study involved hospitalised opium addicts suffering withdrawal who were asked to write a CV before the end of the day. Those who formed a if then when plan such as “if when lunch is over and there is space at the table then I will begin writing my CV there”. By the end of the day 0% of the control group had performed the task but 80% of those in the ‘make a plan’ group had completed their CV.
Rather than describing the favourable features of a product or idea first and saving any drawbacks until the end (or never), a communicator who mentions a weakness early on is immediately seen as more honest. With perceived truthfulness already in place, when the strengths of the case are revealed the listener is more likely to believe them as they have been delivered by a trustworthy source.
In court, a layer who admits to a weakness before a rival layer points it out is seen as more credible and wins more often. In politics, candidates who begin with something positive about their rival gains voting intentions. In advertising, messages that acknowledge a drawback before highlighting strengths often see large increase in sales.
The tactic can be extra successful when the audience is already aware of the weakness because no additional damage is done as no new information is added.
Another way to improve the strategy is to use a transitional work to channel focus away from the drawback and onto the strength: A job candidate might say: I am not experienced in this field but I’m a very fast learner. A sales person might say: Our set up costs are not the lowest, however you’ll recoup them quickly due to our lower running costs.
In history, Queen Elizabeth the 1st of England used this technique in a speech to her troops before going into battle to dispel her soldiers concern that she as a woman she was not up for battle: I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart of a King, and a King of England too! It was reported that the crowd went fucking wild.